Executive Power Outrage

"Q It's not up to me; up to you.

"MR. SNOW: Well, no, it's your question. So I need to get a more precise definition."

Gay Marriage Watch

Thomas M. DeFrank tells it like it is in the New York Daily News: "President Bush tossed another bone to his splintered political base yesterday, again embracing a doomed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage."

DeFrank adds: " 'He's not a homophobe and this isn't his thing,' a close Bush adviser said yesterday. 'But he has to do it.'

" 'The base needs shoring up,' echoed a GOP official, adding that many of Bush's most conservative supporters vigorously oppose his immigration reform package unveiled last month."

Michael Abramowitz and Charles Babington write in The Washington Post: " 'He does not want to be wrongly seen as driving this debate,' said Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage, a leading advocate of the constitutional amendment and part of a small group of activists who met privately with Bush before his speech.

"Daniels and other conservatives professed themselves content with the president's statement, despite complaints from some of their allies that Bush should be doing more. . . .

"Bush appeared mindful of the minefield he was navigating yesterday. He appeared at a room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building rather than the more symbolic Rose Garden, where activists were first told he would make his statement. The debate over the amendment, he said, should be conducted with 'tolerance and respect and dignity.' "

Jim Rutenberg writes in the New York Times: "Democrats have called the Republican push for the amendment a diversionary tactic that will not work this year, when voters are focused on other matters like rising gas prices and the war in Iraq. And some pollsters say the issue may not resonate as it did in 2004."

Bush spoke for all of 10 minutes .

Opinon Watch

E. J. Dionne Jr. writes in his Washington Post opinion column: "This month's offensive by President Bush and his allies in Congress against gay marriage and flag burning proves one thing: The Republican Party thinks its base of social conservatives is a nest of dummies who have no memories and respond like bulls whenever red flags are waved in their faces."

Eugene Robinson writes in his Washington Post opinion column: "The Decider's decision to whip up a phony crisis over same-sex marriage -- Values under attack! Run for your lives! -- is such a transparent ploy that even conservatives are scratching their heads, wondering if this is the best Karl Rove could come up with. Bush might as well open his next presidential address by giving himself a new title: The Distracter."